Because I don't know much about these odd contraptions called computers, I as for your help.

This happened very suddenly. It was fine yesterday; I turn it on today, try to load CS 1.6, and it freezes. Ctrl+Alt+Del and Alt+F4 don't help. All I can do is press the restert button. I wait for it to restart, try again and the same shit happens. Then, after restarting I got to SEN, see some youtube link, click it and it freezes again. Now, after many, many tests I can safely say that it freezes every time I require some 'brainwork' from him. It can't even play music files.

I'm guessin it's something connected with the processor itself, since it can't handle anything in almost any field.

Any thoughts about this?

ADD: Now, it freezes almost every time when I turn it on. Sometimes, instead of freezing it automatically restarts.

Post has been edited 1 time(s), last time on Aug 31 2008, 2:35 pm by JaFF.

When it reboots or shuts down immediately after you turn it on, does it reboot before or after BIOS finishes loading?
If BIOS doesn't finish loading, then, your CPU is probably overheating. If you overclocked it, reset the bios settings (there's a jumper on the motherboard for this, if you can't get into bios). Otherwise, clean out the fans on the inside of the computer and make sure they work (turn the computer on, if the fans aren't spinning, they don't work). If this is a laptop, make sure you're not covering up any of the fans.

Possibly a virus.
I had one that did almost exactly that.

Run diagnostics I say its a hardware problem.

Nonono. I even hear the Windows intro wav, so BIOS is obviously working by then. I don't believe that it's a overheating problem because it started today a few minutes after I turned it on for the first time.

This might be funny to some, but how the hell do I run that? You mean the 'dxdiag' command? If that's the case, what should I look for in the file it gives me?

I had this happening once. Happened to be a loose part inside the computer (a metal thingy with an MSI logo on it). It quit freezing when I got it back in place.
I still don't know what that part does

Bios Diagnostics its different for different computers. maybe f12 when it boots up?
But also check if there is any loose parts in your computer.

I'll definately take a look tomorrow morning. And the BIOS diagnostics MasterJohnny suggested.

Sometimes overheating takes a while to kick in, I've had a cpu work for over half an hour while overheating. Half dead RAM or two RAM sticks running at different speeds can cause weird issues such as reboots, freezes, and weird output followed by a reboot (happened to me once, removing one of the memory sticks fixed it, took me quite some time to figure that one out).

It could also be hard disk problems or the OS got corrupted, but I think that's a bit unlikely.

i am strongly leaning towards overheating because my computer overheated and I had the same scenario you're describing. Check the CPU and/or GPU fans are installed correctly.

I tried to turn it on this morning (about 12 hours from last attempt), and it froze before loading the OS. That means we can exclude overheating and viruses, right?

I'm off to take a look inside.

OK, aside from he huge amount of dust that I cleaned out, there is nothing unusual - the fans work properly, no unplugged cables, etc.

Also, now it just turns off when it starts scanning the memory... the first things you get on your monitor when you turn on your PC is the processor model, speed, memory, HDD, etc. Well it doesen't scan the memory properly and then just turns off.

Maybe it is something connected with memory sticks...

That narrows it down to the PSU, Mobo, CPU, or RAM. I'd be willing to bet it's the ram, as that would cause all these problems. Reseat the ram, see if that helps, then see about just getting a new computer. Typically when they die, it's time for a new comp anyway.

That sounds like what happened to my laptop. I sent my laptop in and they replaced the motherboard so yeah pretty much time for a new computer.

Replaced the motherboard?

Me and my dad tried taking out some memory sticks and it didn't help at all.

So you replaced the RAM, and the problem still exists? That means it can't be the RAM, so you're down to PSU, mobo, CPU. Try out the PSU first, then the mobo. I don't think CPUs are known for failing much. If they do, you can usually smell it.

Well, we replaced the PSU and it didn't fix the problem. We took a closer look at the motherboard, and noticed that the CPU fan wasn't tightly connected (but it was working perfectly), so we connected it normally, and it fixed the problem for only 2 times - then the same old stuff began. Probably this is overheat, but if the fan is working and is properly attached, how can it fail to cool the CPU?

Remove the fan and make sure the CPU is attached properly. I would disconnect everything except CPU, motherboard, power supply, and graphics, and see if you can at least load BIOS without a freeze.

Does the inside of the computer continue to act normally when it freezes?

Post has been edited 1 time(s), last time on Sep 7 2008, 4:26 pm by Falkoner.

Or sometimes the fans that come with the cpu just suck, that is, if you are using the stock fan.